ALUM, Hardly. Romeo Reverse (signed)
ALUM, Hardly. Romeo Reverse. New York: The Vanguard Press. 1934. 8vo. First edition. Publisher’s pictorial cloth lettered in black to spine and upper board, in the dust jacket matching the boards in a wonderful wraparound design. Illustrated by Adolf Dehn. A very good copy, the boards bumped at spine tips and edges, but the binding tight and square, the contents clean with some light toning in places. The dust jacket unclipped ($1.50 net), chipped at most edges with some rubbing to joints, spine darkened.
A bit of a mystery of a book, bibliographically. This copy inscribed warmly by, it appears, the author to front endpaper, “For Bradley Kelly with sincere good wishes // “Hardly” E. D. Sullivan.” This, too, appears to be a continuation of the playful mystery which the publishers had set up—the author is anonymous, and is a spoof of Hervey Allen’s immensely popular ‘Anthony Adverse’, a precursor to the modern American historical novel. Numerous reports—none conclusive—suggest the author here is in fact Allen himself, spoofing his own bestseller. The publishers point authorship to Naed Navillus on rear flap, muddying the murky curiosity here.
ALUM, Hardly. Romeo Reverse. New York: The Vanguard Press. 1934. 8vo. First edition. Publisher’s pictorial cloth lettered in black to spine and upper board, in the dust jacket matching the boards in a wonderful wraparound design. Illustrated by Adolf Dehn. A very good copy, the boards bumped at spine tips and edges, but the binding tight and square, the contents clean with some light toning in places. The dust jacket unclipped ($1.50 net), chipped at most edges with some rubbing to joints, spine darkened.
A bit of a mystery of a book, bibliographically. This copy inscribed warmly by, it appears, the author to front endpaper, “For Bradley Kelly with sincere good wishes // “Hardly” E. D. Sullivan.” This, too, appears to be a continuation of the playful mystery which the publishers had set up—the author is anonymous, and is a spoof of Hervey Allen’s immensely popular ‘Anthony Adverse’, a precursor to the modern American historical novel. Numerous reports—none conclusive—suggest the author here is in fact Allen himself, spoofing his own bestseller. The publishers point authorship to Naed Navillus on rear flap, muddying the murky curiosity here.
ALUM, Hardly. Romeo Reverse. New York: The Vanguard Press. 1934. 8vo. First edition. Publisher’s pictorial cloth lettered in black to spine and upper board, in the dust jacket matching the boards in a wonderful wraparound design. Illustrated by Adolf Dehn. A very good copy, the boards bumped at spine tips and edges, but the binding tight and square, the contents clean with some light toning in places. The dust jacket unclipped ($1.50 net), chipped at most edges with some rubbing to joints, spine darkened.
A bit of a mystery of a book, bibliographically. This copy inscribed warmly by, it appears, the author to front endpaper, “For Bradley Kelly with sincere good wishes // “Hardly” E. D. Sullivan.” This, too, appears to be a continuation of the playful mystery which the publishers had set up—the author is anonymous, and is a spoof of Hervey Allen’s immensely popular ‘Anthony Adverse’, a precursor to the modern American historical novel. Numerous reports—none conclusive—suggest the author here is in fact Allen himself, spoofing his own bestseller. The publishers point authorship to Naed Navillus on rear flap, muddying the murky curiosity here.